Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a widely used term but one that seems to give rise to a degree of ambiguity. Watson (2006) emphasizes that the concept of culture originally derived from a metaphor of the organization as ‘something cultivated’. For the past number of decades, most academics and practitioners studying organizations suggest the concept of culture is the climate and practices that organizations develop around their handling of people, or to the promoted values and statement of beliefs of an organization (Schein, 2004). Schein (2004) highlights that ‘the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture; that the unique talent of leaders is their ability to understand and work with culture; and that it is an ultimate act of leadership to destroy culture when it is viewed as dysfunctional’ (p.11).

Culture therefore gives organizations a sense of identity and determines, through the organization’s legends, rituals, beliefs, meanings, values, norms and language, the way in which ‘things are done around here’. An organizations’ culture encapsulates what it has been good at and what has worked in the past.

Arnold (2005, p 625) indicates that “organizational culture is the distinctive norms, beliefs, principles and ways of behaving that combine to give each organization its distinct character”. These two definitions suggest that organizational culture distinguishes one organization from another organization. Therefore, organizational culture is to an organization what personality is to an individual (Johnson, 1990).

The Organizational culture help to reduce conflicts, to control and coordinate, reduce uncertainty, and to maintain competitive advantage.

The main source of organizational culture is the organization’s leadership. Leadership in this context refers to the influential individuals, often the founders who have a major impact on the creation of the organization’s early culture (Schein, 1985). According to Brown (1998, p 48) “in building their organizations founders tend to impose their beliefs and values about the nature of the world, organizations and human nature on other organizational participants”.

References

Adler, N. (2002). International dimensions of organizational behavior (4'" ed.). Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing.

Jason A.Colquitt, Jeffery A. Lepine & Michael J. Wesson, (2011), “Organizational Behaviour –Improving performance and commitment in the Workplace”, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited,NewDelhi, pp.548-557.